B

Originating from studies carried out by Dr Robert Kaplan and David P Norton in the 1990’s it is a technique often used by managers and organisations to clarify their vision and strategy and then translating them into actions by identifying four or more key perspectives from which the organisation’s performance can be measured. The four key measures are:

Financial Perspective

Customer Perspective

Business Process and Learning

Development Perspective

BECKS (Behaviour, Environment, Clarity, Knowledge/Skills)

Becks analysis is used to give clarity on how well a team performs both positively and negatively around each of the four areas:

Behaviour – visible or not so visible actions or behaviours of team members (as a group and individually).

Clarity – communication, processes, action plans, project plans, role clarity, who does what in the team etc.

Knowledge and Skill – Competencies, Training needs, Learning, Knowledge Matrix including how this is developed or shared.

Behaviour

The manner of conducting oneself or responding in a situation, in training we try to change behaviour directly connected to the overall learning objectives and outcomes, this would be observable and measurable.

Based on the studies of Dr R Meredith Belbin in 1981 where he defined the roles of a team, they are not personality types, but characteristics that are required within a team, any one person can perform more than one of the roles at a time however some are more compatible than others. The roles are split into three overall areas:

Bite (Byte) Sized Learning

Learning that is delivered/received in small chunks, maximises retention due to our brains ability to only absorb information for a short time.

Blended Learning

Combining of different learning delivery strategies this can include face-to-face, classroom style training, e-learning, distance learning and mentoring or coaching. The course content can be delivered via the web or other digital technologies as well as in presentations, handouts, workbooks etc. the idea of Blended Learning is for the learning to experience a combination of different learning experiences that will increase the richness of the learning experience.

Blue Sky Thinking

A thinking process that is without boundaries, it is used to stimulate open minded thinking encouraging participants to think wide and clear as a blue sky.

Brain

One of the most complex organs in our body, made up of different parts that perform different functions.

Medulla Oblongata – helps control the automatic functions e.g. breathing, heart rate, digestion. Also relays information coming to and from the brain.

Pons – plays a part in our arousal, consciousness and sleep, also involved in controlling our automatic body functions.

Cerebellum – controls movement, helps us to control posture and balance and also helps us to learn movement.

Amygdala – stores and classifies emotionally charged memories and does play a key part in our emotions especially fear.

Hippocampus – key role in memory formation and classifies information in our long term memory.

Hypothalamus – controls our bodily functions including our appetite, thirst and sleep this part also plays a part in controlling our emotions.

Thalamus – another part of the relay station of our brain, it takes our sensory signals such as auditory, visual and touch and helps it to be processed by other parts of our brain. This part also plays a part in out motor control.

Frontal Lobe – this portion of our brain is basically our control and command centre it is responsible for our reasoning, problem solving, judgement and impulses. It helps us to manage our higher emotions such as empathy it is also involved in our motor control and memory.

Parietal Lobe – this part processes our pain and touch sensations and also development of our cognitive skills.

Temporal Lobe – helps us to process sound sensations as well as language, again involved in our emotions, memory and speech.

Occipital Lobe – involved in our visual sensation and processing, it is the part that controls and interprets vision.

Corpus Callosum – located at the centre of the brain it is the neural bridge that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.

Brain Dominance

According to well research theories grown out of the work by Roger W. Sperry in 1981 it is said that each side of the brain controls different types of thinking, Left-brain dominance is considered to prefer logic, reasoning, language and numbers/analytical thinking they tend to think from a–z. Right-brain dominance prefer creative thinking and tasks, being able to see the big picture, like music and expressing and reading emotions, they are more likely to be intuitive and spontaneous, likely to work from z–a. Further explanation can be found in Learning Styles.

Brain Storming

Popularised by Alex Faickney Osborn in 1953 A creative thinking technique that collects lots of potential solutions to a specific issue or problem. By spontaneously generating and capturing lots of ideas (no idea being the wrong idea) it offers a wider perspective and more potential solutions that mat not have been considered.

Buddy/Buddy Scheme

Pairing up an individual with a peer or colleague whose skill or knowledge is greater in an area they require development, this allows real time on the job development.

Buy-in

Signifies the commitment of interest and level of support to a decision or idea that is being proposed.